Scalzi and his commenters hit all kinds of notes in their discussion, and I recommend that everybody give that article a read, but the irony I see here is this: One of the inaugural properties for the Amazon initiative is The Vampire Diaries. Do you know who is no longer permitted to write anything for that title (and still is, last I checked)? The series creator, L.J. Smith. So ... letting all kinds of other people into the universe after banning its creator strikes me as more than a little perverse. As for what it means for other fandoms, that remains to be seen. I am of the general opinion that introducing profit to fandom has a tendency to harm the essence of what fandom is all about.